It is known to use the condenser and evaporator coil of a closed refrigeration system to heat a fluid and to condense the vapors of a fluid. Illustrative of this type of prior art are U.S. Pat. No. 1,466,670 to Monti, U.S. Pat. No. 3,070,463 to Barday, U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,098 to Bowers, U.S. Pat. No. 3,234,109 to Lustenader, U.S. Pat. No. 3,299,649 to McGrath et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,990 to Barday, U.S. Pat. No. 3,461,460 to McGrath, U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,985 to McGrath, U.S. Pat. No. 3,492,205 to Webber, U.S. Pat. No. 3,699,006 to Hasslacher, U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,351 to Schwartzman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,798 to McCord, U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,751 to McCord, U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,364 to Rothschild, U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,461 to Moree et al (column 2, line 66 through column 3, line 11), and U.S. Pat. No. 3,308,839 to Barday.
Also known is control of the vapor level within a degreaser apparatus by using a temperature sensing device to actuate a flow control valve that regulates the flow of cooling fluid in the cooling coils. Exemplary of this type of prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,974 to McCord, which discloses that the heating element thereof may be a condensing coil in a refrigeration system (column 3, lines 43-45).
The Schwartzman patent, listed above, shows the use of a coil 25 to provide an additional cooling effect and in order to warm the seawater prior to entry into the tank thereof. Coil 25 is located above evaporator coil 24 of the refrigeration system thereof.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,308,839 and 3,460,990 to Barday, listed above, show use of a water-cooled heat-absorbing element 56 for maintaining thermal equilibrium. However, Barday's apparatus unnecessarily enables removal of some of the sensible heat in the working fluid passing from the condenser to the evaporator coil of the refrigeration system thereof, by supplemental heat absorbing element 58.
This prior art and the other prior art of which we are aware fails to provide an energy efficient apparatus and process for vaporizing a liquid and condensing the vapors thereof that utilizes heat of compression for vaporizing the liquid and that is capable of maintaining thermal balance in the apparatus by modulation of heat extraction from vapors of the liquid. Furthermore, this prior art fails to provide an energy efficient apparatus and process of the type described above that results in an increased distillation rate, an increased condensation rate, an increased delivery of heat to a condenser of the closed refrigeration system, and an increased coefficient of performance.